Garment stay



Dec. 12, 1967 c. A. LANIADO GARMENT STAY Filed June 14, 1965 INVENTOR (/zf/a/xca/f 151/?06 ATTORNEY- United States Patent O 3,357,028 GARMENT STAY Constance A. Laniado, 3725 Henry Hudson Parkway, Riverdale, N.Y. 10471 Filed June 14, 1965, Ser. No. 463,710 Claims. (Cl. 2-256) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A flexible plastic strip having registering grooves in its front and back faces perpendicular to the longitudinal median of the strip; the opposed grooves being in pairs which decrease the thickness of the strip body between them.

The present invention pertains to wearing apparel and is concerned particularly with stays for imparting stiffness or support to areas of garments which require same in their design. At the present time, plastic stays are almost universally employed in the garment industry in place of the metal, covered metal, or composition boning strips formerly used, and which engendered discomfort because of stiffness greater than required in normal use. They lacked adequate flexibility and in time became permanently shaped to the wearers body and thus lost their desired effect.

The present invention avoids the disadvantages and undesirable characteristics of prior art stiffeners and supports, and provides a supple, resilient, garment stay that conforms easily and comfortably to body movements of the wearer, while at the same time giving support adequate to maintain a desired wear shaping of the garment in which it is used, and without deterioration of its origi: nal resilience.

The present invention further provides a plastic boning stay which will not retain the shape of the wearers body following periods of use.

Other and incidental objects of my invention will be apparent from the following description in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a view in elevation of a portion of a garment equipped with a garment stay constructed in accordance with the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary front elevation of the stay shown in FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view on line 33 of FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view at the relative location of line 44 in FIG. 3, but illustrating an alternative embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary perspective view illustrating another alternative embodiment of the invention.

In all illustrative embodiments herein disclosed, the body of the garment stay of my invention comprises a narrow oblong strip of resilient material from the class of plastic compositions in conventional use as garment stitfeners and supports of various kinds. The body of the strip is substantially rectangular in cross section and is provided in its front and rear faces with grooves 11, preferably but not necessarily of shallow semicircular cross section, which extend in paired registry transversely across the strip between its parallel side edges, to which the grooves open, and perpendicular to the longitudinal median of the strip.

The oppositely aligned pairs of grooves 11 are spaced apart longitudinally along the strip, preferably at intervals of approximately one-fourth inch, and are of such depth that the thickness of the body at its narrowest point between the opposed groove bottoms is substantially 3,357,028 Patented Dec. 12, 1967 one-half the thickness of the body in the longitudinal areas between the grooves. Each aligned pair of the transverse grooves thus constitutes a point of bend considerably less resistant to flexion than is the body of the strip at any point longitudinally between the grooves. It is apparent, therefore, that the degree of longitudinal flexibility of the resilient stay is directly related to the spacing longitudinally between the grooves 11 with which it is provided. Flexibility increases with spacing decrease, and vice versa, but the inherent resilience of the strip remains constant in either case.

By providing laterally spaced, longitudinal ribs or ridges, on the front and/or back face of the strip in the areas between the transverse grooves 11 the body of the stay in those areas is reinforced against fortuitous bending.

In the embodiment of the invention illustrated in FIGS. 1-3, the outer or ventral face of the body strip 10 is provided in the areas longitudinally between the grooves 11 with laterally spaced parallel ribs 12 extending longitudinally of the strip. The alternative embodiment shown in FIG. 4 has the ribs 12 on both the outer and inner faces of the body 10.

The ribs are eliminated entirely in the alternative embodiment depicted in FIG. 5, in which the longitudinal areas between the grooves 11 on both faces of the body 10 are smooth plane surfaces 13.

In all forms of the invention which incorporate the ribs 12 they terminate at the grooves 11; they do not extend into or across the grooves.

In service, the strip 10 comprising the stay is positioned in a complemental tape pocket 14 sewn to a garment 15 as in conventional practice. The transverse grooves 11 impart a high degree of flexibility to the stay, but do not impair its inherent resilience. Accordingly, the stay flexes easily at its several points of bend and readily conforms to movements of a wearers body without discomfort.

It is to be understood that the herein disclosed embodiments of my invention are illustrative of practical examples and that the invention is not restricted thereto. It may comprise any structure falling within the scope of the invention as claimed.

I claim:

1. A garment stay comprising an oblong body strip of plastic material longitudinally resilient and of substantially rectangular cross section, the obverse and reverse faces of the strip having therein a plurality of transverse grooves perpendicular to the longitudinal median of the strip and spaced apart longitudinally thereof, the surface areas between the grooves on at least one of said faces having thereon a plurality of parallel ribs extending longitudinally of the strip.

2. A garment stay comprising an oblong body strip of plastic material longitudinally resilient and of substantially rectangular cross section, the obverse and reverse faces of the strip having therein a plurality of parallel transverse grooves perpendicular to the longitudinal median of the strip and spaced apart longitudinally thereof, the grooves in one face being in alignment with correspondingly located grooves in the other face, and the surface areas between the grooves in one face having thereon a plurality of parallel ribs extending longitudinally of the strip.

3. A garment stay comprising an oblong body strip of resilient plastic material substantially rectangular in cross section providing parallel obverse and reverse faces having parallel side edges, the width of the strip between its side edges being greater than its thickness between its obverse and reverse faces; the obverse and reverse faces each having recessed therein a plurality of laterally spaced parallel grooves perpendicular to the longitudinal median of the References Cited strip, each end of each groove opening to the adjacent UNITED STATES PATENTS side edge of the strip, and each groove correspondingly decreasing the thickness of the strip body between its 2,756,435 7/1956 Rose 2255 2133155: and reverse faces over the full extent of the 5 FOREIGN T N S 4. In the stay of claim 1, the surface areas on both 542,815 5/1922 France. of said faces between the grooves having thereon a plural- 348,599 2/ 1922 Germany. ity of parallel ribs extending longitudinally of the strip. 407,958 193 Great Britain.

5. In the stay of claim 2, the surface areas on both faces between the grooves having thereon a plurality of 10 PATRICK LAWSON Primary Examme" parallel ribs extending longitudinally of the strip. A. GUEST, Assistant Examiner. 

1. A GARMENT STAY COMPRISING AN OBLONG BODY STRIP OF PLASTIC MATERIAL LONGITUDINALLY RESILIENT AND OF SUBSTANTIALLY RECTANGULAR CROSS SECTION, THE OBSERVE AND REVERSE FACES OF THE STRIP HAVING THEREIN A PLURALITY OF TRANSVERSE GROOVES PERPENDICULAR TO THE LONGITUDINAL MEDIAN OF THE STRIP AND SPACED APART LONGITUDINALLY THEREOF, THE SURFACE AREAS BETWEEN THE GROOVES ON AT LEAST ONE OF SAID FACES HAVING THEREON A PLURALITY OF PARALLEL RIBS EXTENDING LONGITUDINALLY OF THE STRIP. 